James Anderson (American actor)

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James O. Anderson Jr. (July 13, 1920 – September 14, 1969), often billed as Kyle James and known as Buddy Anderson, was an American television and film actor in the 1950s and 1960s. He is best known for playing Bob E. Lee Ewell in To Kill a Mockingbird (1962).

Born in Birmingham, Alabama, he was the son of J. O. Anderson and his wife; his sister Mary Anderson was also an actress. In 1938, while at Shades-Cahaba High School, he played football. He studied acting at the University of Alabama for a year, then moved to Los Angeles to train with Max Reinhardt for six months. He performed in Zero Hour, a play by George Sklar and Albert Maltz, and signed a contract with Warner Bros. in November 1940.

Anderson appeared in more than 120 roles, mostly on television and in films between 1941 and 1969. He had three guest spots on Perry Mason, including as murder victims Frank Anderson (1958) and Stanley Piper (1960). He acted in many westerns, often as a gunman or outlaw. Notable TV work includes Sanctuary at Crystal Springs in The Dakotas (1963), which caused controversy and helped end the series; Gunsmoke (1963) as Harmon in "The Wrong Man"; and Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1963) in "Last Seen Wearing Blue Jeans."

In the summer of 1956, he suffered a serious skull fracture and was treated at UCLA Medical Center. He died suddenly on September 14, 1969, while working on Little Big Man in Billings, Montana, at the age of 49. His death was listed as drug intoxication from barbiturate poisoning. He was survived by his mother and sister.

In 2010, Mary Badham, his co-star in To Kill a Mockingbird, remembered his intense method acting on set.